Beyond Kafala: Employer roles in growing vulnerabilities of women migrant domestic workers

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cg.authorship.typesCGIAR single centreen
cg.contributor.donorCentre of Excellence for Development Impact and Learningen
cg.contributor.donorForeign, Commonwealth and Development Office, United Kingdomen
cg.coverage.countryLebanon
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2LB
cg.coverage.regionWestern Asia
cg.coverage.regionAsia
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.51744/ceb7en
cg.identifier.projectIFPRI - Natural Resources and Resilience Unit
cg.identifier.projectIFPRI - Systems Transformation - Transformation Strategies
cg.identifier.publicationRankNot ranked
cg.number7en
cg.placeLondon, UKen
cg.reviewStatusInternal Reviewen
dc.contributor.authorAbdulrahim, Sawsanen
dc.contributor.authorCherri, Zeinaben
dc.contributor.authorAdra, Mayen
dc.contributor.authorHassan, Faheden
dc.date.accessioned2024-03-14T12:09:04Zen
dc.date.available2024-03-14T12:09:04Zen
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/140195
dc.titleBeyond Kafala: Employer roles in growing vulnerabilities of women migrant domestic workersen
dcterms.abstractWomen migrant domestic workers (WMDWs) constitute 7.7 percent of migrant workers worldwide, of whom more than a quarter live and work in the Arab region. In Lebanon, as in other Arab countries, WMDWs are recruited through the sponsorship system, Kafala. Under this system, a potential migrant worker can only obtain legal residency and a work permit in the country of destination if she is sponsored by a specific employer. Once in the destination country, the worker cannot transfer to a new employer unless granted permission by the original sponsor. The system heightens the social, economic, and legal vulnerability of WMDWs and has been described as unfree or bound labor and a system of racialized servitude. Yet, Kafala is not a written policy but rather a collection of administrative procedures, customary practices, and socially acceptable norms that are maintained by various players throughout the migration process. The question then arises as to whether advocacy efforts that focus on abolishing Kafala as a legal term would mitigate employers’ exploitative practices that violate the workers’ rights and freedoms, particularly in a country like Lebanon. This policy brief is based on a study carried out under the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Work in Freedom project designed to mitigate the exploitation and forced labor of women migrating from South to West Asia to work in the domestic and garment sectors. This brief explores knowledge, awareness and attitudes to Kafala by employers in Lebanon.en
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
dcterms.bibliographicCitationAbdulrahim, Sawsan; Cherri, Zeinab; Adra, May; and Hassan, Fahed. 2023. Beyond Kafala: Employer roles in growing vulnerabilities of women migrant domestic workers. CEDIL Evidence Brief 7. London, England; and Washington, DC. Centre of Excellence for Development Impact and Learning (CEDIL); and International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.51744/CEB7.en
dcterms.extent4 p.en
dcterms.isPartOfCEDIL Evidence Briefen
dcterms.issued2023-02-01
dcterms.languageen
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0
dcterms.publisherCentre of Excellence for Development Impact and Learningen
dcterms.publisherInternational Food Policy Research Instituteen
dcterms.relationhttps://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134673en
dcterms.relationhttps://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.136639en
dcterms.relationhttps://doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2022.2059448en
dcterms.replaceshttps://ebrary.ifpri.org/digital/collection/p15738coll2/id/136662en
dcterms.subjectgenderen
dcterms.subjectmigrant labouren
dcterms.subjectemploymenten
dcterms.subjectmigrationen
dcterms.subjectdomestic worken
dcterms.subjectwomenen
dcterms.subjectlegal systemen
dcterms.typeBrief

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